Car shipping checklist before pickup
Use this checklist before the truck arrives. Confirm the carrier's name, wash the car so damage shows, set fuel the way the instructions say, and remove items the contract does not allow. Lines that depend on the vehicle are blanks, not a second guide. You can print this page without sending an email.
Key facts
- No signup
- Print or save this page. RideShipper does not require an email to read the list.
- Fill the blanks from the contract
- Fuel level, item weight, and who may sign are whatever your carrier wrote down.
- Someone must attend
- You, or a named adult with the keys and authority to sign the condition record.
- Photos plus the form
- Walk the car and write existing marks before you sign. Keep a copy.
- Source: 49 USC 14706
The sources are listed on this page.
Print this page and fill the blanks from your contract. You do not need an account or an email to use the list. The checklist tool can date a copy around your pickup day if you want one saved. Reading this page does not sign you up for anything.
Vehicle type: ________
Open or enclosed: ________
Runs, steers, and brakes: yes / no. If no, what fails: ________
Carrier's stated personal-item limit, if any: ________
Person meeting the truck: ________ Phone: ________
The day you book, not the morning of pickup
- [ ] The order shows the price, the first available date, and the pickup window in days.
- [ ] You know whether the company is the broker or the carrier.
- [ ] You have the carrier's legal name and MC or USDOT number, or you know you will not release the car until you do. Check the number on FMCSA's Company Snapshot.
- [ ] Meeting point is an address the truck can use: ________
- [ ] Backup meeting point, if the truck cannot make the street: ________
- [ ] The adult who may sign is named to the company. Details are in who must be present.
The car
- [ ] Washed enough to see chips, dents, and glass. The reason is in how to prepare a car for shipping.
- [ ] No fresh leak you failed to report. If it leaks, you told the company on: ________
- [ ] Fuel cap tight. Carrier's fuel instruction, copied from their note: ________
- [ ] For a highway haul, you did not treat a slogan as the rule. A securely closed tank on a motor-vehicle move may hold more than 500 milliliters under 49 CFR 173.220. The carrier may still want less so the car can be driven on and off.
- [ ] Battery secure and installed, unless the carrier's written note says otherwise. Note: ________
- [ ] Alarm or PIN, if the carrier asked: ________
- [ ] Toll tags, garage clickers, and loose electronics removed.
- [ ] Trunk matches the contract. Weight they stated: ________. If they stated none, items removed.
- [ ] What must not stay is out: medications you need, original title if you must have it, cash, and firearms. See what you may leave in a shipped car.
Blanks for this vehicle, not a second article
Fill only what applies. Leave the rest blank.
- [ ] Electric or hybrid transport note from the maker or the carrier: ________
- [ ] Motorcycle, ATV, or other non-car tie-down note: ________
- [ ] Car does not run. Winch point or neutral procedure the carrier accepted: ________
- [ ] Extra key or wheel-lock key location: ________
- [ ] Parking garage or storage lot hours: ________
The hour the truck is due
- [ ] Dispatch name matches the company you checked.
- [ ] You walked the car in daylight and photographed it in order. Shot list: photos and the condition record.
- [ ] Existing damage is written on the form before you sign.
- [ ] You photographed every signed page.
- [ ] You did not sign a new price that is not in the contract.
Shipping checklist
At the other end, use the delivery-day checklist. Inspect, note new damage, then pay what the contract says is still due. RideShipper does not send a driver and does not mark the form for you.
Why the blanks stay blank
A motorcycle, an electric car, and a car that will not start are different prep jobs. Those guides exist so this list does not pretend one paragraph covers them. Write the carrier's note on the blank. If you do not have a note yet, the line stays empty and you ask before the window opens. Guessing a charge level, a tie-down, or a weight is how a driver refuses the car.
The fuel line is the same idea. Federal rules for a highway move allow fuel to remain in a securely closed tank, within the exception in 49 CFR 173.220. Your carrier may still want less. Their sentence goes on the line. A ship to Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico follows the ocean operator's instruction, not the highway exception. Do not copy the highway line onto a port booking.
What "done" looks like
The list is done when a person who was not on the booking call could meet the truck with this paper alone. They would know the carrier's name, the meeting point, the fuel note, what may stay in the trunk, and that they must not sign a new price. If any of those are still blank, you are not ready, even if the car is washed.
Keep a pen with the printout. Phones die. The signature still happens on the carrier's form, and you still photograph that form. This checklist does not replace it.
Questions
Do I have to give my email to use this list?
No. Print it or save the page. The checklist tool can build a dated copy if you want one. The tool's email field is optional and is not required to read these lines.
What do I write on the blank lines?
Only facts from your contract or the carrier's prep note. If a line does not apply, write "none." Do not copy a pound limit from a forum.
Can I send this list to the person meeting the truck?
Yes. Add their name at the top and the company's phone number from your order, not from a new text thread.
Where is the delivery list?
On the delivery-day checklist. Do not sign delivery, or pay the balance, before that inspection.